Sunday, September 16, 2007

The official start to my Goofy training

This weekend my Goofy training officially started as I began my weekends of back to back runs with planned 5 and 10 milers. On Saturday morning I met up with Instructor S to run the pathway along the Bow River from Eau Claire towards Edworthy Park. Originally S had wanted to run 6 - 7 miles and I was going to keep up, but when she heard I was originally thinking about 5 we decided to cut the run down (she was breaking her long run into pieces this weekend as she was also running as a coach for Team In Training later that morning, but she is still training for the Nike Women's full marathon in October as well). We took the run nice and slow and she gave me some great pointers while we were running. The key one was to relax...I carry a lot of tension in my shoulders and they really creep up, which also translates into the Fonzie thumbs up I tend to sport throughout most of my runs. Running slowly really brings out any problems with your posture and yours truly was no exception. So many things to keep in mind while out running. This morning I was a little concerned about bonking...my nutrition has not been the best this weekend (I think I od'ed on burgers) and I was sure it would affect me....not to mention I was way late getting started considering Maggie had a vet appointment early in the afternoon that I was going to have troubles making. I ditched the idea of running around Glenmore (my favorite 10 mile loop) and went back to run from Eau Claire up the Bow River since it was closer. I kept up with my 9:1 run/walk intervals and things were feeling good. The pathway was beautiful - nice warm temperatures and leaves changing colours. By a mile and a half in I was in a groove and I didn't even feel like I had run 5 miles the day before. I also tried out the cola Clif Shot Bloks for the first time on my run and I have to say that this is definitely my favorite flavor of Bloks...too bad they aren't available in Canada (at least anywhere that I've seen around here). I finished out my 10 miles feeling strong the whole way and then I raced home to rush Maggie to the vet. Interestingly enough, this week has probably been one of my most sleep deprived weeks thanks to things at work, but this was also the first weekend where I didn't crash out on the couch for a big nap after my long run. I can only hope that things continue to feel this way!

1 comment:

Ha the Fonz...classic. I've been thinking about the physiology of the Goofy for some unknown reason, and apparently if you can condition, recover, and fuel properly, you should be set. Why i feel the need to say that i have no idea. You know these things already.

I used to have the same problem with my shoulders/neck and would get a cramp right at the base of my neck while running. I'm not sure what I did to relax, but eventually everything shook out and there is very little tension in my back/neck as I run. It may very well be the way i sit at my desk at work.

Don't worry about the race photos. My last tri photos showed the same face on me for the swim, bike, and run. The same look of exertion...